» After Labor leadership defeat, David Miliband signs up for Sunderland FC

After Labor leadership defeat, David Miliband signs up for Sunderland FC

Published: Wednesday, January 12, 2011, 13:00 [IST]

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London, Jan.12 (ANI): Since younger brother Ed Miliband defeated him to win the Labour Party leadership, former British foreign secretary David Miliband has left everyone guessing about what he would be doing next.

The man seen as the ultimate political geek has now reportedly left everyone surprised by taking a job at a football club.

The Daily Mail can reveal that Miliband is to become the vice-chairman of the Premier League side Sunderland, at a reputed salary of 50,000-pounds a year.

The MP who quit front line politics after losing the leadership election to his brother Ed last year is expected to take up his boardroom seat shortly.

Although Miliband's South Shields constituency is home to many of the football club's supporters, the 45-year-old MP is a lifelong Arsenal fan, having been brought up in North London apart from a brief family move to Leeds.

His new job may also come as a shock to those who consider him more at home in the elegant surroundings of the Palace of Westminster than among the rough and tumble of the football terraces.Miliband will be number two to the club's current chairman Niall Quinn - who approached him following his leadership defeat.

The high-profile appointment to the board would see the two men working in tandem as the public voice of Sunderland, with the club benefiting from Miliband's political status and experience in the UK and around the globe.

Miliband's salary will hardly make a dent in the fortune of Sunderland's owner, Texan billionaire and hedge fund tycoon Ellis Short.

The politician met the Sunderland board last week to finalize the deal, which is a further sign that the man once tipped for the top in politics has turned his back on his brother and is cashing in on his political name to supplement his 65,738-pound-a-year MP's salary.

The Sunderland appointment, which Mr Miliband has accepted in principle but needs to be cleared by parliamentary watchdogs, coincides with news that he and his wife Louise, an American concert violinist, have recently set up a private limited company called The Office of David Miliband Limited.

Registered with Companies House shortly before Christmas, it lists Mr. and Mrs. Miliband as sole directors and mirrors similar moves by the MP's mentor and former 'boss' Tony Blair - who once referred to David Miliband as the 'Wayne Rooney' of his Cabinet.

But according to The Telegraph, Miliband may also take on the role of being a teacher at a school he attended as a teenager

The report said that Miliband will put his experience to good use teaching A-level Government and Politics at Haverstock School in Chalk Farm, north London, which he attended as a boy.

His position is voluntary and he is not taking up the post full-time, but will teach around an hour per week.

Miliband attended the state secondary school from 1978 to 1983, where fellow pupils included the novelist Zoe Heller. He left with three Bs and a D at A-level but won a place at Oxford University. (ANI)